养花 On Growing Flowers

养花
On Growing Flowers
我爱花，所以也爱养花。
I love flowers and hence have taken to growing them.
我可还没成为养花专家，因为没有工夫去作研究与试验。
But, short of time to do research and experiment in flower cultivation, I am no gardener at all.
我只把养花当作生活中的一种乐趣，花开得大小好坏都不计较，只要开花，我就高兴。
I merely take flower cultivation as a pleasure of life. I really don’t care whether or not the blooms put forth by my flowers are plump and nice-looking. I’ll be delighted as long as they can bloom.
在我的小院中，到夏天，满是花草，小猫儿们只好上房去玩耍，地上没有它们的运动场。
In summer, flowers and plants growing in luxuriance in my small courtyard will leave little open space as a playground for the little cats, so they have to sport about in our rooms instead.
花虽多，但无奇花异草。
I grow many flowers, but none of them are exotic or rare ones.
珍贵的花草不易养活，看着一棵好花生病欲死是件难过的事。
It is difficult to grow a precious flower species. And I feel bad to see a good flower dying of illness.
我不愿时时落泪。
I don’t want often to shed tears over that.
北京的气候，对养花来说，不算很好。
But Beijing’s climate is more or less unfit for the growing of flowers.
冬天冷，春天多风，夏天不是干旱就是大雨倾盆；秋天最好，可是忽然会闹霜冻。
Freezing in winter, windy in spring, and either too dry or too often visited by rainstorms in summer. While autumn is the best of all, it is often plagued by a sudden frost.
在这种气候里，想把南方的好花养活，我还没有那么大的本事。
In a climate like this, it is far beyond my capacity to grow precious flowers of southern breed.
因此，我只养些好种易活、自己会奋斗的花草。
Therefore, I only grow flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate.
不过，尽管花草自己会奋斗，我若置之不理，任其自生自灭，它们多数还是会死了的。
Although such flowers are able to weather through by themselves, I, however, never ignore them or abandon them to their own fate, for otherwise most of them will probably end up dead.
我得天天照管它们，像好朋友似的关切它们。
I have to care for them every day as if they were my close friends.
一来二去，我摸着一些门道：有的喜阴，就别放在太阳地里，有的喜干，就别多浇水。
Thus, in the course of time, I’ve somehow got the hang of flower cultivation. Some flowers which are accustomed to growing in the shade should not be too much exposed to the sun. Those which prefer dryness should not be watered too often.
这是个乐趣，摸住门道，花草养活了，而且三年五载老活着、开花，多么有意思呀！不是乱吹，这就是知识呀！
It gives me much pleasure to know the right way of handling them. How interesting it is to be able to keep my flowers and plants alive and watch them thrive and bloom year in year out! It is no exaggeration to say that there is much knowledge involved in this!
多得些知识，一定不是坏事。
And the more knowledge one acquires, the better it is of course.
我不是有腿病吗，不但不利于行，也不利于久坐。
As I have some trouble with my leg, I can’t move around easily, nor can I sit too long.
我不知道花草们受我的照顾，感谢我不感谢；我可得感谢它们。
I don’t know if the flowers under my care are grateful to me or not. However, I wish for my part to acknowledge my thanks to them.
在我工作的时候，我总是写了几十个字，就到院中去看看，浇浇这棵，搬搬那盆，然后回到屋中再写一点，然后再出去，如此循环，把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起，有益身心，胜于吃药。
I often leave off sedentary work after writing a few dozen words and go to the courtyard to take a look at the flowers, watering them and moving about the potted ones. Then I’ll return to my room to write a bit more. I’ll go through the same back-and-forth process again and again, thus combining mental with manual labour. This is a better way to keep me fit in mind and body than taking medicine.
要是赶上狂风暴雨或天气突变哪，就得全家动员，抢救花草，十分紧张。
In case of a violent storm or a sudden change of weather, however, the whole family will have to turn out to salvage the flowers and plants. Everybody will then feel keyed up.
几百盆花，都要很快地抢到屋里去，使人腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。
By the time when we have managed to move the several hundred potted flowers to the rooms in a hurry, we will be dog-tired and wet with perspiration.
第二天，天气好转，又得把花儿都搬出去，就又一次腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。
The next day, when the weather is fine, we will have another round of being dog-tired and wet with perspiration in taking all the flowers out to the courtyard again.
可是，这多么有意思呀！
How interesting it is!
不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活，这难道不是真理么？
Isn’t it true that without doing manual labour, we couldn’t even keep a single flower alive?
送牛奶的同志，进门就夸“好香”！这使我们全家都感到骄傲。
It filled the whole family with pride whenever the milkman exclaims on entering our gate, “What a sweet smell!”
赶到昙花开放的时候，约几位朋友来看看，更有秉烛夜游的神气——昙花总在夜里放蕊。
When the night-blooming cereuses are about to be in flower, we will invite some friends to visit us in the evening to feast their eyes on them — in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights.
花儿分根了，一棵分为数棵，就赠给朋友们一些；看着友人拿走自己的劳动果实，心里自然特别喜欢。
When the cereuses have branched out, we will pick some of the flowers and give them as a present to our friends. We are of course especially happy to see them take away our fruits of labour.
当然，也有伤心的时候，今年夏天就有这么一回。
Of course, there is a time to feel sad too.
三百株菊秧还在地上（没到移入盆中的时候），下了暴雨。
Last summer, a rainstorm hit us when 300 chrysanthemum seedlings in the courtyard were about to be transplanted to pots.
邻家的墙倒了下来，菊秧被砸死者约三十多种，一百多棵！全家都几天没有笑容！
Suddenly, the wall of our neighbour collapsed and crushed more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties. The whole family were sad-faced for quite a few days!
有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色，既须劳动，又长见识，这就是养花的乐趣。
Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, flowers and fruit, fragrance and colour, manual labour and increased knowledge — all these make up the charm of flower cultivation.